Development of university and professional accountancy education in New Zealand

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The Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 8, No. 1 Spring 1981
M. J. R. Gaffikin
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND
Abstract: University teaching of accountancy in New Zealand is probably unique in that it has developed hand in hand with the educational requirements of the profession. Although this close relationship did much to stimulate accounting edu-cation in the early years this is not so now. In attempting to meet the requirements of the profession and develop independent programmes the universities have been forced into an uneasy compromise. Those United States institutions which have recently created Professional Schools of Accounting may well find themselves similarly placed in the near future.
The history of university teaching of accountancy in New Zealand is well worth examining because of the close links it has had with the profession. The universities have been, for some time, the major educating body of the profession. Consequently, in seeking to pro-tect its own interests, the profession has substantially influenced the development of university accountancy education programmes with respect to the level and variety of courses offered. With this sort of development it is quite likely that the development of univer-sity accountancy education in New Zealand is quite unique.
However, the universities have not always played such a promi-nent role in educating the accounting profession and some attempts to bring the two even closer have failed. An example is the unsuc-cessful attempt to align accountancy with professions such as law and medicine in requiring, as a prerequisite to entry, a university degree. It could be that a conservative profession is unwilling to accept any influence from institutions it imagines to be liberal or even radical.
This paper traces the development of accounting education in New Zealand universities. Because many readers will not be familiar with the structure of the university education system in that country the first sections briefly describe the existing structure, then trace
The constructive comments of Professor Murray Wells, Frank L. Clarke, and John Whitta on an earlier draft are gratefully acknowledged.